Machine fob pabiwg



NTTED STATES FTENT OFFTOE.

EPHRAIM L. PRATT, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO J. SARGENT AND DAN. P. FOSTER.

MACHINE FOR PARING- APPLES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 10,078, dated October 4, 1853.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, EPHRAIM L. PRATT, of -Worcesteig in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful or Improved Machine for Faring Apples or Various other Fruits or Vegetables; and I do hereby declare that the saine is fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings Figure l denotes atop view of my said machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 an end elevation of it. Fig. 4, is a section of the cutting apparatus.

In the said drawings A represents the metallic frame for supporting the operative parts of the machine, which frame is itself sustained or fastened'on a wooden platform or frame B as seen in the drawings. The said frame supports a crank shaft or man drel O that is made to revolve freely in boxes, and to have a crank D on one end of it, and a tripronged fork E on its opposite end, as seen in the drawing, the apple, fruit or vegetable, to be pared being put on the fork.

An endless screw or worm F is fixed on the shaft C and made to engage with a worm gear Gr that is affixed on another shaft I-I, arranged at right angles to and below the shaft C, and made to revolve in bearings disposed as seen at a, a. On one end of the shaft I-I, there is a wheel I, that has on its circumference two arcs Z), o, of teeth, and two arcs d, c, or blank spaces without teeth between the said arcs. This wheel operates or engages with a sector gear K, that is affixed on one end of a horizontal shaft L, that rotates in bearings formed on the tops of two posts M, N.

From the sector gear K an arm P is extended as seen in Fig. 3, the said arm having a long slot g made through it, in which the bent rod O vibrates; one end of the rod O is hinged to the shaft L as represented in the drawing, the end of the shaft L being bent at a right angle and scored for that purpose. One end of the spring F, is fastened to the rod O, and the other to the sector gear, so as to draw the rod O toward the shaft L, so as to press the cutting apparatus upon the end of the rod against the fruit upon the tripronged fork E.

The cutting apparatus consists of the pronged block S made in the form represented in the drawing, and is perforated so as to receive the end of the rod O, which has a score 7c across it for the end of the screw l, which is screwed through the block S into the score lc, which is made so much larger than the point ofthe screw, and the hole in the block S is so much larger than the end of the rod, that the block S will vibrate freely to a limited extent, around the rod in a circular direction, and at right angles to it; so as to adjust itself to any unevenness, or irregular form in the article pared by the knife T, which is fitted into grooves in the prongs of the block S, and fastened by the set screw a, as represented, the knife T being pressed against the fruit on the fork E, by the spring P, which draws the rod O t0- ward the shaft L. A section of the end of the rod O, block S, etc., is represented in Fig. 4. One end of the helical spring R is fastened to the post N and the other to the shaft L and is so adjusted as to turn the shaft L back,.and return the knife to its position to begin upon another apple, after it has pared the first and at the same time removes it from the end of the fork, so that it is out of the way in removing the apple pared from the fork E, to put another in its place. The top of the post N is made in such a form as to prevent the rod O from carrying the knife T against the fork E when there is no article upon the fork.

The machine having been constructed and completed as above described, an apple is placed upon the fork E, and the shaft C turned by the crank D, the worm F turns the gear G, with the shaft H and gear I, which drives the sector gear K which carries the shaft L and rod O so as to move the knife T over the surface of the apple as it is turned by the fork E and pare it completely excepta small space between and around the fork E. By the time the apple is completely pared except the portion above mentioned the wheel I will have turned so that the blank space will be against the sector gear K so as to release it and allow the spring It to turn the sector gear back to place the knife T in the position itis represented in Figs. l and 2, when the apple pared may be removed and another put in its place and pared as above described.

I contemplate that the construction of my or their equivalents) so as to allow the knife to vibrate and accommodate itself to any irregularity in the surface of the apple or vegetable pared substantially as de- 15 scribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set4 my signature.

E. L. PRATT. Witnesses:

T. B. MoN'rAGmi, Gr. H. TAYLOR. 

